Rise Against
by The Disposable Villain
Summary: Akefia wakes up in the middle of the night and Ryou's not there. Bakushipping. Trigger warning: Self harm, implied rape.


_DD: Hey, guys. I own nothing and hope you like it._

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Akefia blinked open his eyes and looked around. It was still dark. A glance at the luminous alarm clock on the stand beside his bed told him that it was only two am. That meant the alarm that was supposed to wake Ryou for school wouldn't be going off for another five hours.

He yawned and closed his eyes, prepared to fall asleep again. Then he cracked one eye open. Only one figure was curled up next to him. He glanced down to see Bakura's spiky head of hair resting against his chest. Ryou usually slept between them.

Akefia frowned. "Kura?"

Bakura grumbled, nuzzling closer to Akefia.

"Kura, wake up."

Bakura scowled, not opening his eyes. "What?"

"Ryou's not here."

Bakura shrugged. "He prob'ly got up early," he mumbled, sleep slurring his speech.

"It's two."

Bakura paused and opened his eyes. "Crap." He sat up, rubbing one eye. "Come on. I know where he is."

Akefia kicked off the blanket covering him and followed Bakura down the hall, passing by Yugi, Yami and Atem's room on the way. Everything in their room was quiet.

Bakura stopped at the bathroom. Light was streaming through the crack between the bottom of the door and the floor. Bakura knocked on the door. "Ryou?" His whispered call was met by a soft whimper in response. "Ryou, let us in." The door stayed shut.

"Come on, Ry." Akefia kept his voice as soft as Bakura's. "Please?" There was a moment where nothing happened. Akefia was about to call again when the door slowly opened.

Ryou looked up at them, his brown eyes teary. He sniffled and bit his lower lip. "I-I'm sorry..."

He was holding his hands away from his blue pyjamas. Akefia looked down at them.

The pale skin up to his mid-forearm was covered with blood. Noticing Akefia's gaze, Ryou hid his hands behind his back and looked down. His tears spilled down his cheeks and he choked back a sob.

Bakura took a step forwards, but Ryou took a step back. "Please, Ry..."

Ryou sobbed and shook his head. "I-I'm s-sorry..."

"Why?"

Akefia's question seemed to surprise Ryou. "I just... I'm s-scared and i-it hurts and th-this distracts m-me..."

"What's scaring you, Ryou?" Bakura asked gently. Hhe didn't get this far last night. He had just let Ryou cry himself to sleep in his arms before carrying him back to bed.

Ryou shook his head. "H-he'll be mad..."

"Who?" Akefia took a step forward. Ryou didn't back away, but he whimpered. "We'll protect you."

"If I t-tell, he'll take it out o-on Yugi..."

"Atem and Yami will protect him," Bakura promised.

Ryou looked down. "B-but..."

"We promise; we won't let him hurt you or Yugi again." Bakura stepped forward with Akefia. "But you need to tell us what happened."

Ryou gulped. "O-our science teacher... Fujiwara-san... H-he..." He clenched his fists, shaking. "H-he made us... l-lie back on the tables a-and he t-tied us down..." Ryou squeezed his eyes shut. "I-I can't..."

Akefia stepped closer to him and gently pulled him against his chest. "It's okay," Bakura whispered, also wrapping his arms around Ryou. "We've got you."

Ryou buried his head in Akefia's shoulder. "H-he l-laughed and said i-it wouldn't matter what he did b-because we'd have g-given up before his n-next lesson," Ryou sobbed. "He was r-right..."

Akefia's arms tightened around him. "No he wasn't."

"But I just-"

"But you're still here." Akefia met his gaze. "It's always darkest just before dawn. And there will be a dawn, Ry. You just need to stay awake to see it."

Bakura nodded in agreement and kissed the top of Ryou's head. "Prove him wrong. Don't do this. We'll get him kicked out of there."

"P-promise?" Ryou whispered.

"We promise," the two murmured.

Ryou nuzzled against them. "I-I love you..."

"Love you too."

"You too, Ry."

Akefia rubbed Ryou's back. "Let's get you cleaned up."

Ryou shakiy nodded and allowed Bakura and Akefia to clean away the blood from his arms and bandage his wrists before leading him back to bed. "Thank you," he whispered as he curled up between them.

"No need, Ryou." They held him closer. "No need."

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 _DD: Please review. See you next time Killer Queens!_


End file.
